Metar Decoding question for US airports
 

Hi gents,

Was flying into to JFK the last couple days and on the DATIS has a strange metar that none of us was able to decode. Couldnt find it on FAR AIM nor on the LIDO met section. Wondering if anyone could give me a pointer thanks!

So it was something like this : bla bla bla 3 / 3 / 3 rwy condition 1/8 inch dry snow over compacted ice bla bla bla

Whats does the 3 / 3 / 3 mean?

It’s a Runway Condition Code (RCC)

https://www.faa.gov/about/initiative...rport-RCAM.pdf

It means that the braking action should be medium along the whole runway.

It’s braking action report for touchdown/mid/rollout. 3 is medium braking action. 5/5/5 means good, whole runway.

AIM 4-3-9

Been in use for over a year but the only reports I've seen have been winter months.

6/6/6 means dry and won’t be reported. 5 will usually equate to a wet runway. You can have a combination such as 6/5/5. 1 would be pretty slippery.

An airport operator entering a 1 into NOTAM manager for publication is instead prompted to close the runway until conditions improve.

At my company, we can dispatch if RCC is reported as 1 but we have to have an alternate listed unless there are additional runways that have an RCC above 1.